No More Learning

Besides, [_In a higher tone. _] the offence is so exorbitant,
To mingle with a misbelieving race,
That speedy vengeance would pursue your crime,
And holy Mahomet launch himself from heaven,
Before the unready thunderbolts were formed.
[_Emperor, taking him by the throat with one
hand, snatches out his sword with the
other, and points it to his breast. _

_Emp. _ Slave, have I raised thee to this pomp and power,
To preach against my will? --Know, I am law;
And thou, not Mahomet's messenger but mine! --
Make it, I charge thee, make my pleasure lawful;
Or, first, I strip thee of thy ghostly greatness,
Then send thee post to tell thy tale above.
And bring thy vain memorials to thy prophet,
Of justice done below for disobedience.

_Muf. _ For heaven's sake hold! --The respite of a moment! --
To think for you--

_Emp. _ And for thyself.

_Muf. _ For both.

_Bend. _ Disgrace, and death, and avarice, have lost him! [_Aside. _

_Muf. _ 'Tis true, our law forbids to wed a Christian;
But it forbids you not to ravish her.
You have a conqueror's right upon your slave;
And then the more despite you do a Christian,
You serve the prophet more, who loathes that sect.

_Emp. _ O, now it mends; and you talk reason, Mufti. --
But, stay! I promised freedom to Sebastian;
Now, should I grant it, his revengeful soul
Would ne'er forgive his violated bed.

_Muf. _ Kill him; for then you give him liberty:
His soul is from his earthly prison freed.

_Emp. _ How happy is the prince who has a churchman,
So learned and pliant, to expound his laws!

_Bend. _ Two things I humbly offer to your prudence.

_Emp. _ Be brief, but let not either thwart my love.

_Bend. _ First, since our holy man has made rape lawful,
Fright her with that; Proceed not yet to force:
Why should you pluck the green distasteful fruit
From the unwilling bough,
When it may ripen of itself, and fall?

_Emp. _ Grant her a day; though that's too much to give
Out of a life which I devote to love.

_Bend. _ Then, next, to bar
All future hopes of her desired Sebastian,
Let Dorax be enjoined to bring his head.

_Emp. _ [_To the Mufti. _]
Go, Mufti, call him to receive his orders. -- [_Exit Mufti. _
I taste thy counsel; her desires new roused,
And yet unslaked, will kindle in her fancy,
And make her eager to renew the feast.

_Bend. _ [_Aside. _] Dorax, I know before, will disobey:
There's a foe's head well cropped. --
But this hot love precipitates my plot,
And brings it to projection ere its time.

_Enter_ SEBASTIAN _and_ ALMEYDA, _hand in hand; upon sight of the
Emperor, they separate, and seem disturbed. _

_Alm. _ He breaks at unawares upon our walks,
And, like a midnight wolf, invades the fold.
Make speedy preparation of your soul,
And bid it arm apace: He comes for answer,
And brutal mischief sits upon his brow.

_Seb. _ Not the last sounding could surprise me more,
That summons drowsy mortals to their doom,
When called in haste to fumble for their limbs,
And tremble, unprovided for their charge:
My sense has been so deeply plunged in joys,
The soul out-slept her hour; and, scarce awake,
Would think too late, but cannot: But brave minds,
At worst, can dare their fate. [_Aside. _

_Emp. _ [_Coming up to them. _] Have you performed
Your embassy, and treated with success?

_Seb. _ I had no time.

_Emp. _ No, not for my affairs;
But, for your own, too much.

_Seb. _ You talk in clouds; explain your meaning, sir.

_Emp. _ Explain yours first. --What meant you, hand in hand?
And, when you saw me, with a guilty start,
You loosed your hold, affrighted at my presence.

_Seb. _ Affrighted!

_Emp. _ Yes, astonished and confounded.

_Seb. _ What mak'st thou of thyself, and what of me?
Art thou some ghost, some demon, or some god,
That I should stand astonished at thy sight?
If thou could'st deem so meanly of my courage,
Why didst thou not engage me man for man,
And try the virtue of that Gorgon face,
To stare me into statue?

_Emp. _ Oh, thou art now recovered; but, by heaven,
Thou wert amazed at first, as if surprised
At unexpected baseness brought to light.
For know, ungrateful man, that kings, like gods,
Are every where; walk in the abyss of minds,
And view the dark recesses of the soul.

_Seb. _ Base and ungrateful never was I thought;
Nor, till this turn of fate, durst thou have called me:
But, since thou boast'st the omniscience of a god,
Say in what cranny of Sebastian's soul,
Unknown to me, so loathed a crime is lodged?

_Emp. _ Thou hast not broke my trust, reposed in thee!

_Seb. _ Imposed, but not received. --Take back that falsehood.

_Emp. _ Thou art not married to Almeyda?

_Seb. _ Yes.

_Emp. _ And own'st the usurpation of my love?

_Seb. _ I own it, in the face of heaven and thee;
No usurpation, but a lawful claim,
Of which I stand possessed.

_Emp. _ She has chosen well,
Betwixt a captive and a conqueror.

_Alm. _ Betwixt a monster, and the best of men! --
He was the envy of his neighbouring kings;
For him their sighing queens despised their lords;
And virgin daughters blushed when he was named.
To share his noble chains is more to me,
Than all the savage greatness of thy throne.

_Seb. _ Were I to chuse again, and knew my fate,
For such a night I would be what I am.
The joys I have possessed are ever mine;
Out of thy reach; behind eternity;
Hid in the sacred treasure of the past:
But blest remembrance brings them hourly back.

_Emp. _ Hourly indeed, who hast but hours to live.
O, mighty purchase of a boasted bliss!
To dream of what thou hadst one fugitive night,
And never shalt have more!

_Seb. _ Barbarian, thou canst part us but a moment!
We shall be one again in thy despite.
Life is but air,
That yields a passage to the whistling sword,
And closes when 'tis gone.

_Alm. _ How can we better die than close embraced,
Sucking each other's souls while we expire?
Which, so transfused, and mounting both at once,
The saints, deceived, shall, by a sweet mistake,
Hand up thy soul for mine, and mine for thine.

_Emp. _ No, I'll untwist you:
I have occasion for your stay on earth.
Let him mount first, and beat upon the wing,
And wait an age for what I here detain;
Or sicken at immortal joys above,
And languish for the heaven he left below.

_Alm. _ Thou wilt not dare to break what heaven has joined?

_Emp. _ Not break the chain; but change a rotten link,
And rivet one to last.
Think'st thou I come to argue right and wrong? --
Why lingers Dorax thus? Where are my guards,
[BENDUCAR _goes out for the
Guards, and returns. _
To drag that slave to death? -- [_Pointing to_ SEB.
Now storm and rage;
Call vainly on thy prophet, then defy him
For wanting power to save thee.

_Seb. _ That were to gratify thy pride. I'll shew thee
How a man should, and how a king dare die!
So even, that my soul shall walk with ease
Out of its flesh, and shut out life as calmly
As it does words; without a sign to note
One struggle, in the smooth dissolving frame.

_Alm. _ [_To the Emp. _]
Expect revenge from heaven, inhuman wretch!
Nor hope to ascend Sebastian's holy bed.
Flames, daggers, poisons, guard the sacred steps:
Those are the promised pleasures of my love.

_Emp. _ And these might fright another, but not me;
Or me, if I designed to give you pleasure.
I seek my own; and while that lasts, you live. --

_Enter two of the Guards. _

Go, bear the captive to a speedy death,
And set my soul at ease.

_Alm. _ I charge you hold, ye ministers of death! --
Speak my Sebastian;
Plead for thy life; Oh, ask it of the tyrant:
'Tis no dishonour; trust me, love, 'tis none.
I would die for thee, but I cannot plead;
My haughty heart disdains it, even for thee. --
Still silent! Will the king of Portugal
Go to his death like a dumb sacrifice?
Beg him to save my life in saving thine.

_Seb. _ Farewell; my life's not worth another word.

_Emp. _ [_To the Guards. _] Perform your orders.

_Alm. _ Stay, take my farewell too!
Farewell the greatness of Almeyda's soul! --
Look, tyrant, what excess of love can do;
It pulls me down thus low as to thy feet; [_Kneels to him. _
Nay, to embrace thy knees with loathing hands,
Which blister when they touch thee: Yet even thus,
Thus far I can, to save Sebastian's life.

_Emp. _ A secret pleasure trickles through my veins:
It works about the inlets of my soul,
To feel thy touch, and pity tempts the pass:
But the tough metal of my heart resists;
'Tis warmed with the soft fire, not melted down.

_Alm. _ A flood of scalding tears will make it run.
Spare him, Oh spare! Can you pretend to love,
And have no pity? Love and that are twins.
Here will I grow;
Thus compass you with these supplanting cords,
And pull so long till the proud fabrick falls.

_Emp. _ Still kneel, and still embrace: 'Tis double pleasure,
So to be hugged, and see Sebastian die.

_Alm. _ Look, tyrant, when thou nam'st Sebastian's death,
Thy very executioners turn pale.
Rough as they are, and hardened in their trade
Of death, they start at an anointed head,
And tremble to approach. --He hears me not,
Nor minds the impression of a god on kings;
Because no stamp of heaven was on his soul,
But the resisting mass drove back the seal. --
Say, though thy heart be rock of adamant,
Yet rocks are not impregnable to bribes:
Instruct me how to bribe thee; name thy price;
Lo, I resign my title to the crown;
Send me to exile with the man I love,
And banishment is empire.

_Emp. _ Here's my claim, [_Clapping his Hand to his Sword. _
And this extinguished thine; thou giv'st me nothing.

_Alm. _ My father's, mother's, brother's death, I pardon;
That's somewhat sure; a mighty sum of murder,
Of innocent and kindred blood struck off.
My prayers and penance shall discount for these,
And beg of heaven to charge the bill on me:
Behold what price I offer, and how dear,
To buy Sebastian's life!

_Emp. _ Let after-reckonings trouble fearful fools;
I'll stand the trial of those trivial crimes:
But, since thou begg'st me to prescribe my terms,
The only I can offer are thy love,
And this one day of respite to resolve.
Grant, or deny; for thy next word is fate,
And fate is deaf to prayer.

_Alm. _ May heaven be so, [_Rising up. _
At thy last breath, to thine! I curse thee not;
For, who can better curse the plague, or devil,
Than to be what they are? That curse be thine. --
Now, do not speak, Sebastian, for you need not;
But die, for I resign your life. --Look, heaven,
Almeyda dooms her dear Sebastian's death!
But is there heaven? for I begin to doubt;
The skies are hushed, no grumbling thunders roll. --
Now take your swing, ye impious; sin unpunished;
Eternal Providence seems overwatched,
And with a slumbering nod assents to murder.

_Enter_ DORAX, _attended by three Soldiers. _

_Emp. _ Thou mov'st a tortoise-pace to my relief.
Take hence that once a king; that sullen pride,
That swells to dumbness: lay him in the dungeon,
And sink him deep with irons, that, when he would,
He shall not groan to hearing; when I send,
The next commands are death.

_Alm. _ Then prayers are vain as curses.

_Emp. _ Much at one
In a slave's mouth, against a monarch's power.
This day thou hast to think;
At night, if thou wilt curse, thou shalt curse kindly;
Then I'll provoke thy lips, lay siege so close,
That all thy sallying breath shall turn to blessings. --
Make haste, seize, force her, bear her hence.

_Alm. _ Farewell, my last Sebastian!
I do not beg, I challenge justice now. --
O Powers, if kings be your peculiar care,
Why plays this wretch with your prerogative?
Now flash him dead, now crumble him to ashes,
Or henceforth live confined in your own palace;
And look not idly out upon a world,
That is no longer yours. [_She is carried off struggling; Emperor and_
BENDUCAR _follow. _ SEBASTIAN _struggles in
his Guards' arms, and shakes off one of
them; but two others come in, and hold him;
he speaks not all the while. _

_Dor. _ I find I'm but a half-strained villain yet;
But mongrel-mischievous; for my blood boiled,
To view this brutal act; and my stern soul
Tugged at my arm, to draw in her defence. [_Aside. _
Down, thou rebelling Christian in my heart!
Redeem thy fame on this Sebastian first; [_Walks a turn. _
Then think on other wrongs, when thine are righted.
But how to right them? on a slave disarmed,
Defenceless, and submitted to my rage?
A base revenge is vengeance on myself:-- [_Walks again. _
I have it, and I thank thee, honest head,
Thus present to me at my great necessity. -- [_Comes up to_ SEBASTIAN.
You know me not?

_Seb. _ I hear men call thee Dorax.

_Dor. _ 'Tis well; you know enough for once:--you speak too;
You were struck mute before.

_Seb. _ Silence became me then.

_Dor. _ Yet we may talk hereafter.

_Seb. _ Hereafter is not mine:
Dispatch thy work, good executioner.

_Dor. _ None of my blood were hangmen; add that falsehood
To a long bill, that yet remains unreckoned.

_Seb. _ A king and thou can never have a reckoning.

_Dor. _ A greater sum, perhaps, than you can pay.
Meantime, I shall make bold to increase your debt;
[_Gives him his Sword. _
Take this, and use it at your greatest need.

_Seb. _ This hand and this have been acquainted well: [_Looks on it. _
It should have come before into my grasp,
To kill the ravisher.

_Dor. _ Thou heard'st the tyrant's orders; guard thy life
When 'tis attacked, and guard it like a man.

_Seb. _ I'm still without thy meaning, but I thank thee.

_Dor. _ Thank me when I ask thanks; thank me with that.

_Seb. _ Such surly kindness did I never see.

_Dor. _ [_To the Captain of his Guards. _]
Musa, draw out a file; pick man by man.
Such who dare die, and dear will sell their death.
Guard him to the utmost; now conduct him hence,
And treat him as my person.

_Seb. _ Something like
That voice, methinks, I should have somewhere heard;
But floods of woes have hurried it far off,
Beyond my ken of soul. [_Exit_ SEBASTIAN, _with the Soldiers. _

_Dor. _ But I shall bring him back, ungrateful man!
I shall, and set him full before thy sight,
When I shall front thee, like some staring ghost,
With all my wrongs about me. --What, so soon
Returned? this haste is boding.

_Enter to him Emperor,_ BENDUCAR, _and_ MUFTI.

_Emp. _ She's still inexorable, still imperious,
And loud, as if, like Bacchus, born in thunder.
Be quick, ye false physicians of my mind;
Bring speedy death, or cure.

_Bend. _ What can be counselled, while Sebastian lives?
The vine will cling, while the tall poplar stands;
But, that cut down, creeps to the next support,
And twines as closely there.

_Emp. _ That's done with ease; I speak him dead:--proceed.

_Muf. _ Proclaim your marriage with Almeyda next,
That civil wars may cease; this gains the crowd:
Then you may safely force her to your will;
For people side with violence and injustice,
When done for public good.

_Emp. _ Preach thou that doctrine.

_Bend. _ The unreasonable fool has broached a truth,
That blasts my hopes; but, since 'tis gone so far,
He shall divulge Almeyda is a Christian;
If that produce no tumult, I despair. [_Aside. _

_Emp_ Why speaks not Dorax?

_Dor. _ Because my soul abhors to mix with him.
Sir, let me bluntly say, you went too far,
To trust the preaching power on state-affairs
To him, or any heavenly demagogue:
'Tis a limb lopt from your prerogative,
And so much of heaven's image blotted from you.

_Muf. _ Sure thou hast never heard of holy men,
(So Christians call them) famed in state affairs!
Such as in Spain, Ximenes, Albornoz;
In England, Wolsey; match me these with laymen.

_Dor. _ How you triumph in one or two of these,
Born to be statesmen, happening to be churchmen!
Thou call'st them holy; so their function was:
But tell me, Mufti, which of them were saints? --
Next sir, to you: the sum of all is this,--
Since he claims power from heaven, and not from kings,
When 'tis his interest, he can interest heaven
To preach you down; and ages oft depend
On hours, uninterrupted, in the chair.

_Emp. _ I'll trust his preaching, while I rule his pay;
And I dare trust my Africans to hear
Whatever he dare preach.

_Dor. _ You know them not.
The genius of your Moors is mutiny;
They scarcely want a guide to move their madness;
Prompt to rebel on every weak pretence;
Blustering when courted, crouching when opprest;
Wise to themselves, and fools to all the world;
Restless in change, and perjured to a proverb.
They love religion sweetened to the sense;
A good, luxurious, palatable faith.
Thus vice and godliness,--preposterous pair! --
Ride cheek by jowl, but churchmen hold the reins:
And whene'er kings would lower clergy-greatness,
They learn too late what power the preachers have,
And whose the subjects are; the Mufti knows it,
Nor dares deny what passed betwixt us two.

_Emp. _ No more; whate'er he said was my command.

_Dor. _ Why, then, no more, since you will hear no more;
Some kings are resolute to their own ruin.

_Emp. _ Without your meddling where you are not asked,
Obey your orders, and dispatch Sebastian.

_Dor. _ Trust my revenge; be sure I wish him dead.

_Emp. _ What mean'st thou? What's thy wishing to my will?
Dispatch him; rid me of the man I loath.

_Dor_ I hear you, sir; I'll take my time, and do't.

_Emp. _ Thy time! What's all thy time? What's thy whole life
To my one hour of ease? No more replies,
But see thou dost it; or--

_Dor. _ Choke in that threat; I can say _or_ as loud.

_Emp. _ 'Tis well; I see my words have no effect,
But I may send a message to dispose you. [_Is going off. _

_Dor. _ Expect an answer worthy of that message.

_Muf. _ The prophet owed him this;
And, thanked be heaven, he has it. [_Aside. _

_Bend. _ By holy Alla, I conjure you stay,
And judge not rashly of so brave a man.
[_Draws the Emperor aside, and whispers him. _
I'll give you reasons why he cannot execute
Your orders now, and why he will hereafter.

_Muf. _ Benducar is a fool, to bring him off;
I'll work my own revenge, and speedily. [_Aside. _

_Bend. _ The fort is his, the soldiers' hearts are his;
A thousand Christian slaves are in the castle,
Which he can free to reinforce his power;
Your troops far off, beleaguering Larache,
Yet in the Christians' hands.

_Emp. _ I grant all this;
But grant me he must die.

_Bend. _ He shall, by poison;
'Tis here, the deadly drug, prepared in powder,
Hot as hell fire: Then, to prevent his soldiers
From rising to revenge their general's death,
While he is struggling with his mortal pangs,
The rabble on the sudden may be raised
To seize the castle.

_Emp. _ Do't;--'tis left to thee.

_Bend. _ Yet more;--but clear your brow, for he observes.
[_They whisper again. _

_Dor. _ What, will the favourite prop my falling fortunes?
O prodigy of court! [_Aside_
[_Emp. and_ BEND. _return to_ DOR.

_Emp. _ Your friend has fully cleared your innocence;
I was too hasty to condemn unheard,
And you, perhaps, too prompt in your replies.
As far as fits the majesty of kings,
I ask excuse.

_Dor. _ I'm sure I meant it well.

_Emp. _ I know you did:--This to our love renewed. -- [_Emp. drinks. _
Benducar, fill to Dorax. [BEND. _turns, and mixes a Powder in it. _

_Dor. _ Let it go round, for all of us have need
To quench our heats: 'Tis the king's health, Benducar, [_He drinks. _
And I would pledge it, though I knew 'twere poison.

_Bend. _ Another bowl; for what the king has touched,
And you have pledged, is sacred to your loves.
[_Drinks out of another Bowl. _

_Muf. _ Since charity becomes my calling, thus
Let me provoke your friendship; and heaven bless it,
As I intend it well. [_Drinks; and, turning aside, pours some
drops out of a little vial into the
Bowl; then presents it to_ DORAX.

_Dor. _ Heaven make thee honest;
On that condition we shall soon be friends. [_Drinks. _

_Muf. _ Yes, at our meeting in another world;
For thou hast drunk thy passport out of this.
Not the Nonacrian font, nor Lethe's lake,
Could sooner numb thy nimble faculties,
Than this, to sleep eternal. [_Aside. _

_Emp. _ Now farewell, Dorax; this was our first quarrel,
And, I dare prophecy, will prove our last.
[_Exeunt Emp. _ BEND. _and the Mufti. _

_Dor. _ It may be so. --I'm strangely discomposed;
Quick shootings thro' my limbs, and pricking pains,
Qualms at my heart, convulsions in my nerves,
Shiverings of cold, and burnings of my entrails,
Within my little world make medley war,
Lose and regain, beat, and are beaten back,
As momentary victors quit their ground. --
Can it be poison! Poison's of one tenor,
Or hot, or cold; this neither, and yet both.
Some deadly draught, some enemy of life,
Boils in my bowels, and works out my soul.
Ingratitude's the growth of every clime;
Africk, the scene removed, is Portugal.
Of all court service, learn the common lot,--
To-day 'tis done, to-morrow 'tis forgot.
Oh, were that all! my honest corpse must lie
Exposed to scorn, and public infamy;
My shameful death will be divulged alone;
The worth and honour of my soul unknown. [_Exit. _


SCENE II. --_A Night-Scene of the Mufti's Garden, where an Arbour is
discovered. _

_Enter_ ANTONIO.

_Ant. _ She names herself Morayma; the Mufti's only daughter, and a
virgin! This is the time and place that she appointed in her letter,
yet she comes not. Why, thou sweet delicious creature, why torture me
with thy delay! Dar'st thou be false to thy assignation?